Talking China: International experts gather at RSA House to identify opportunities

Chinese investors have not been deterred from investing in the UK by the Brexit, according to one of the leading figures from the business community.

Real estate entrepreneur Xiang Gao told a meeting at RSA House in London that there are still many enthusiastic buyers for business and residential property. He also said that the Chinese place great value on Britain’s educational and arts sectors. Mr Gao said that because the pound has fallen in value, some assets and services appear excellent value for money. However, he noted that the Chinese must now compete with many other customers, including people from elsewhere in Asia.

Mr Gao is the chairman of the UK-Shanghai Business Association. He was speaking at an event hosted by a new organisation called Asian Agenda, hosted by Duncan Bartlett FRSA, who is the Editor of Asian Affairs magazine and a former BBC Correspondent.

The group included guests from Japan, including Yuka Morita from Asia House, Professor Tatsuo Yoshikawa from the Department of Economics at Keio University and Dr Ryotaro Mihara, a lecturer in International Management at SOAS (University of London). They believe there is a warm and friendly mood between China and Japan, in contrast to tensions between China and the United States.

The Chinese panellists at the Asian Agenda event included Dr Peng Lyu, Visiting Scholar at the LSE and Dr Xin Wang from Liaoning University. They were joined by Yuchen Zhang, a journalist for China Daily newspaper, who is currently studying for a masters at UCL.
They said it was unlikely that China will be able to sustain growth rates above six percent but noted that this means the country remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This year is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.

Panellist Shalin Dewan FRSA offered insight on how the Sino-US trade is affecting the business environment. Mr Dewan is Director of Building Bridges International and impressed the Chinese guests with his knowledge of Mandarin and deep knowledge of Chinese culture.

Asian Agenda holds regular events in London and elsewhere. Asian Agenda welcome questions and contributions; if you would like to learn more about upcoming events, do get in contact with the organiser.